


The (single) Parent Trap

by Nakeycatstakebaths



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Clarke Griffin, Bellamy and Clarke are both dumb af in this, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Hawaii, Jordan is Bellamy's adopted son, Madi and Jordan BroTP, Madi is Clarke's adopted daughter, Madi is kind of an evil mastermind, POV Multiple, Parent trap with a twist, Pineapple Farmer Bellamy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23569960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nakeycatstakebaths/pseuds/Nakeycatstakebaths
Summary: Growing up in the middle of the Maui farmer’s market definitely has its perks: free samples, colorful locals, tiny stolen flowers and endless amounts of Dole whip. But while Madi and Jordan were playing tag around the folding tables, their respective parents were shamelessly flirting from across the aisle. Over the years, they grew to become best friends...while their parents remained single and hopelessly in love with each other.It’s been ten years too long...and Jordan and Madi have both decided Bellamy and Clarke will never get their shit together without help. It’s time to take matters into their own hands, if they have to pretend to date to help their single parents finally let themselves be happy—then so be it.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 126
Kudos: 265





	1. Hunka Hunka Burning Love

**Author's Note:**

> Based loosely off a prompt by @AO3commentoftheday on Tumblr

Madi tipped her head back, letting the ends of her hair dip just slightly into the water. It was a perfect morning, soft sunlight filtered from the horizon, cool breeze forming waves with perfect crests. Her board floated aimlessly through the water, taking her further and further away from the shore. Vaguely, she could hear the rest of the team, chattering about the wind forecasts and their evening practice schedule but she was too content to really pay attention.

“Hey space case, we gotta go,” a voice yelled from behind her, a hand reaching out and tapping her surfboard hard enough to dump her into the water.

Just like that, she was plunged into the ocean, saltwater burning her nose and eyes as she dipped below the surface.

“I hope you get eaten by a shark,” she said, spitting out water as she came up for air. So much for her peaceful morning.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just water…you’ll live. My dad said that he’d take away my keys if I was late again and I’m not letting you be the reason I have to be carpooled to my junior year,” Jordan shrugged, hopping back on his board and paddling back toward the shore.

If he weren’t her ride, she would’ve ignored him for the rest of the day, but that wasn’t really an option. So with a groan, she followed.

Jordan was—annoying to say the least. He always treated her like a little kid, even though she wasn’t even two years younger than he was. But he was also the closest thing she had to an older brother…and the only person who really understood anything about her life, so his general asshole tendencies just came with the package.

When they were younger, when she had first come to live with Clarke, she followed him around like a puppy. He was barely six at the time, but somehow, he understood that she needed a friend. Despite the teasing, he took her under his wing. She wasn’t sure if he intended for her to become a permanent fixture in his life, but it just kind of stuck.

Unzipping her wetsuit and unclipping her board, she followed Jordan to his Jeep, throwing her gear into the back just as he flipped the radio on.

“Shit. We’re actually really late,” she groaned, pulling a sundress on over her bathing suit before sliding it off and tossing it into her bag.

“Whose fault is that?”

Ignoring the question, Madi stuck out her tongue at him, typing out a message to her mom that she would be late.

“Do you want me to text your dad?” she asked, pulling out his phone before he could even respond.

“Just tell him that I was waiting for you to use the bathroom,” Jordan nodded, eyes trained on the road, completely unbothered that she had once again figured out his phone password. He really should stop using variations of the word pineapple, it was a little on the nose.

“Ew, no. I don’t want Bellamy thinking I have diarrhea or something!”

“Well, I can’t exactly tell him that you were daydreaming and that I was trying and failing to get Heather James’ number.”

“Heather James is out of your league dude.”

“Says the girl who literally has never had a boyfriend…” Jordan smirked, shoving her slightly from across the center console.

“I’m just selective,” she said, suppressing the urge to shove him back. “And I told him that the board shed was locked.”

“We don’t use the board shed, dummy.”

“Whatever, I told my mom the same thing so at least it’s consistent.”

“Clarke is never going to buy that.”

“We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” Madi grinned cheekily, digging her Birkenstocks out of her tote bag and hopping out of the Jeep.

Together, they weaved through the crowd, greeting familiar faces and dodging tourists who clogged the walkways. This was normally Madi’s favorite part about Saturday mornings, the rush of people, the sweet smell of roasted pork. So much of what made Maui home lived in this farmer’s market. She and Jordan had both grown up here, keeping track of receipts and playing tag around the edges of the stalls.

But right now, they didn’t have time for her to stop and grab a flower to tuck behind her ear. It was more crowded than usual, the first sign of the high season, which meant they were both probably in a decent amount of trouble for their tardiness.

“Shit,” Jordan groaned, eying the almost mile-long line in front of Bellamy’s pineapple truck. He could see Miller slicing a pineapple with a huge machete, mostly just for show to keep the people in line from getting too hassled.

“We are soooo fucked,” Madi agreed, taking in the almost equally long line in front of Clarke’s art stall.

“Godspeed my friend,” Jordan said, holding two fingers to his temple and giving her a small salute as he turned toward the yellow truck.

She watched him disappear around the corner before jogging across to Clarke’s stall, shooting her mom a sheepish smile as she quickly began writing down people’s purchases and giving change.

It was going to be a long day.

***

“So, do you want to tell me what you were actually doing this morning?” Clarke asked, unhooking a painting from the wire wall and carefully placing it into a cardboard box. “Because you and I both know that you don’t use the board shed.”

“I’m so sorry about being late, I know that was really stressful for you. I don’t really have a good excuse, to be honest, we just lost track of time,” she rambled, shoving the last few receipts into the cashbox, pointedly avoiding her mom’s prying eyes.

“Lost track of time huh?”

“Yeah, you know how it gets on the ocean…”

“Yeah sure,” Clarke smirked, giving Madi a look that seemed especially loaded. “You know, you don’t have to lie to me.”

“Lie about what?” Madi asked, genuinely confused over what her mom was implying. For once, she had come clean, her mom should know by now that she was kind of a space case.

“You and Jordan spend a lot of time together, it’s totally normal for you to explore that relationship,” Clarke said carefully.

_What?_

_Holy shit._

_Did her mom think that she was secretly dating Jordan?_

_Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew._

“Uh—I don’t think you have the right…” Madi began awkwardly, trying to figure out the best way to clear this up before it went any further.

“You don’t have to talk about—”

Before Clarke could finish, Bellamy and Jordan came strolling up, holding two small plastic containers, swiftly putting an end to the horrifically awkward conversation. 

“Those for us?” Clarke asked, her entire demeanor changing as she caught sight of Bellamy. She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear, quickly moving to wipe invisible dust off her white jeans. It was subtle and Bellamy never noticed, but Madi knew this dance well by now.

“Depends,” Bellamy chuckled, holding one of the containers just above Clarke’s head, dangling it just out of her reach.

“I’ll grill as much pineapple as you want if you give me that Dole whip,” Clarke said, hopping up and down, giggling as Bellamy backed away, still holding the dessert.

This continued for a few minutes, leaving Jordan and Madi to lean against a pillar, sharing the dole whip as their parents blatantly flirted.

“How many years of this are we on now?” Jordan smirked, chuckling to himself as Bellamy finally relented and gave Clarke the container.

“I don’t know, as long as I’ve been here basically,” Madi shrugged, taking one last bite of ice cream before leaning to toss a few canvases into a cardboard box.

“Honestly ridiculous,” he sighed, lifting the box that Madi just filled and hauling it into the back of Clarke’s pick up truck.

Madi and Jordan filled the back of the truck, chatting back and forth while Bellamy and Clarke continued to flirt. Normally, they would’ve complained but they needed to gather all the goodwill they could get right now. The better the mood they could put them in, the less shit they would likely get for being late.

***

“So my mom thinks that we’re secretly dating…” Madi said, trying to sound casual as Jordan drove them both home. Normally, she would’ve just gone with her mom, but Clarke had insisted…probably because she thought they wanted to make out on the way home.

“You’re kidding, right? That’s honestly disgusting, no offense,” Jordan replied, nose wrinkling in distaste.

“No, I agree…it’s practically incest.”

“I wonder if my dad thinks the same thing because he’s been kind of psycho about telling me to be careful with you lately.”

“Maybe the reason they’ve been dancing around each other for so long is that their perception is totally out of whack. I mean…if they think we’re dating, there must be something wrong.”

“I think they’re both just too self-sacrificing for their own good…” Jordan sighed, purposely taking a longer route for the sake of continuing the conversation.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that seeing Clarke at the farmer’s market is literally the best part of my dad’s week but for some reason, he thinks that because he has me and the farm to worry about that he literally can’t do anything that makes him happy.”

“That’s oddly astute for you…”

“Hey, I can be smart when I want to be,” Jordan gasped, feigning shock at the insult.

“Okay then Sherlock, how do we convince them we’re not dating?” Madi asked, folding herself up in the seat so she could face him.

There was a long silence between them, the sound of cool air whipping by and the soft crinkly Elvis song drifting from the radio filling the space. Jordan was chewing on his lip, seemingly deep in thought as he followed the winding road.

Madi squinted, studying his profile. She wondered if maybe in another life she could’ve found Jordan attractive. From a strictly female standpoint, she could kind of see it. Her friends sometimes talked about him; the general consensus was that he was hot. But something about the idea of it just squicked her out. He’d seen her pick her nose when she was little, hung out with her during her awkward middle school stage. There was never a point during their friendship where she considered him romantically. It was just—gross.

“What if we didn’t?” Jordan said, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline.

“If we let them think we were dating? I hate to break it to you Jordy but that’s literally ne—”

“Ew, no. That’s totally off the table.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“Our parents like each other, but they’re too scared to do anything about it, right?”

“Right. But what does that have to do with us?”

“What if we pretended to date…and like forced them to chaperone us?” Jordan said excitedly, voice cracking as he went on, detailing what was admittedly a convoluted plan to get their parents together.

“Like the parent trap, but…even weirder?”

“Pretty much yeah. I know it sounds crazy but I’m going off to college soon and I just want my dad to be happy you know? He gave up his entire life to take me in and I just—”

“I get it. Trust me,” Madi nodded, placing her hand on Jordan’s bicep and squeezing lightly. The thing was, she did get it. That was the reason she and Jordan got so close when they were young. Being adopted and having a single, young parent, it wasn’t something that a lot of people understood. There was guilt to it, Madi felt it just as strongly as he did. Clarke had given up her twenties to teach Madi to read, drive her to soccer practice, loved her, cared for her. She sacrificed so much to give her a good life. It was her turn to be happy.

“So, you’re in?”

“On one condition…” she laughed, as crazy as it sounded…this just might work. “Don’t fall in love with me kid.”

“Oh my God, get out,” Jordan sighed, gently pushing her out the door. “I’ll text you and we can do details.”

***

Clarke leaned against the wall outside of Madi’s room, fingers tapping nervously against her thigh. She knew this would happen eventually, her daughter was beautiful and smart, it was only a matter of time before she got a boyfriend. The fact that her boyfriend is Bellamy’s son, was definitely an added complication.

Bellamy was—one of her favorite people, arguably her favorite person after Madi. Part of her had always hoped something would happen there, but it never did. They only really saw each other at the farmer’s market anyway, it was like a schoolyard crush. Seeing him gave her a reason to dress a little nicer on Saturdays, it was something to look forward to. 

Years ago, they used to get breakfast together afterward. Those were always the best days, the afternoons they spent sitting together in a sticky booth, drinking coffee while Madi and Jordan ran off to play frog in the buggy. It started as a way to stay sane, there weren’t a lot of other people her age who knew what it was like to raise a kid. But it turned into a solid friendship, even if they only really saw a sliver of each other’s lives.

It was unlikely that it would go anywhere at this point, but she always enjoyed seeing him on the weekends. Those Saturday brunches had faded as their kids got older, started hanging out on their own. She kind of missed those sticky afternoons laughing while Madi rolled around in the grass. On her lonely days, she sometimes wondered if they missed an opportunity…wondered what would’ve happened if she had just told him how she felt. But that was a long time ago, that window was long closed.

Maybe this was a chance to get to have a friendship again, give them something real to talk about.

This was kind of awkward though.

Did this make Bellamy off-limits? Was it inappropriate to flirt with your daughter’s boyfriend’s dad?

Clarke thudded her head back against the wall, scrubbing a hand over her face as her head spun with all the implications of this.

“I can literally see you standing outside,” Madi called from her room, forcing Clarke to push aside her musings and round the corner. “Why are you hovering in the hallway like a weirdo?”

“I—I just wanted to check back in with you about what we were talking about earlier…” she began, awkwardly sitting on the edge of the bed. This was new territory, she wasn’t sure how to approach it. On one hand, she wanted Madi to feel comfortable talking about it but on the other, she wasn’t sure how much of this she actually wanted to know.

“Oh yeah, about Jordan,” Madi nodded, sitting up in her bed with a surprising amount of enthusiasm. “I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about that.”

 _Please don’t be about birth control, please don’t be about birth control._ Clarke thought to herself, bracing for whatever was coming next. Madi was growing up so fast, it was hard to accept sometimes. It was easy to forget that she wasn’t still the little girl that Clarke found living in the library.

“I’ve never been on a date before…” she began, trying her best to seem genuinely nervous. It wasn’t a lie at least. Her mom didn’t need to know that she had no intention of ever going on a date with Jordan.

“Baby, I know it’s kind of scary, but Jordan already knows how amazing you are. There’s no need to be nervous about it.”

“Yeah, I guess. It’s just kind of a lot.”

“Is he pressuring you?” Clarke asked, eyebrows knitting with concern as she sat on the edge of Madi’s bed.

“No, no, nothing like that. I just—” Madi tried again, desperately trying to corral the situation before things spiraled completely out of control. The last thing she needed was her mom going after her friend with a baseball bat. “I was thinking it would be less awkward if it wasn’t just the two of us. At least at first.”

“Group dates are really fun, that’s a great idea. Do you know if there’s another girl on the surf team you could set up with one of Jordan’s friends?”

“Uh, so, I was thinking that maybe you could come? Jordan would bring his dad too, so it’s not like you’re third-wheeling or anything. But I would just feel a lot less nervous.”

Clarke paused, momentarily speechless. Nothing could have possibly prepared her for her daughter asking to be chaperoned on a date. This was completely uncharted territory, none of the advice Raven had given her fit into this equation. This was weird. Her and Madi were definitely closer than most mothers and daughters, it kind of came with the single mom territory. But this was a little much, even by their standards.

“You know, most people don’t want their mom to come on dates with them?” she said carefully, trying to find a way to escape this without hurting Madi’s feelings.

“I know…but you’re not a regular mom, you’re like cool and stuff. Plus, you know Bellamy so it’s not that weird,” Madi continued, this wasn’t as easy as she had hoped. “It’ll be just like when I was little, and we would all go to that diner and eat cheeseburgers together.”

At the mention of the diner, Clarke softened. Honestly, she was surprised Madi remembered. Turned out, she hadn’t romanticized the whole thing as much as she thought. It was a great memory for both of them.

“I guess I can do this for you…as long as you’re fully aware of how weird this is,” Clarke smiled, reaching out to cup her daughter’s cheek fondly. “Also, you’re on brush duty for the rest of the month because I’m going to have to wear real clothes and we both know how I feel about that.”

“Deal and deal,” Madi grinned widely, almost giddy over the fact that this actually worked. “Love you, mom. Thank you!”

Madi wrapped her arms around her mom’s neck, hugging her close. This was a good plan. Jordan was right, their parents deserved to be happy. She had been kind of worried about lying but it would be worth it in the end.

“How about we go out onto the water tonight? Just the two of us,” Clarke said softly, rubbing her thumb against Madi’s cheek. It was something they used to do a lot when Madi was little, order a pizza and take it to the beach. They would surf until the sun went down and then eat a pizza under the stars, talking about anything and everything.

Those were some of Clarke’s favorite moments, the ones she would hold onto forever. Whether she liked it or not, her kid was growing up, would be going to college, have a whole new world soon. She wished time would slow down…but that didn’t seem like it was going to happen anytime soon.

Maybe this would be good, a way to spend extra time with her daughter and get to know the boy she was seeing. If she got to spend a little extra time with Bellamy, well, she wouldn’t exactly be complaining about it.

***

“You fully understand that this is ridiculous, right?” Bellamy asked, pulling off his t-shirt before bending to extract the sunscreen from their bag.

“It’s what Madi wants! You always said I was supposed to make girls feel comfortable. This is the way she feels comfortable,” Jordan shrugged, turning around so his dad could spray his back. The mist was cool, filling the air with the faint scent of coconut. “You know how close she and Clarke are.”

“I don’t love that you turned my own advice against me. But yeah, if it makes her feel more comfortable then I guess this is a pretty small ask.”

“You’re supposed to say ‘Jordan you’re an amazing son who always listens to what I tell you. You are truly a gift to both me and to women everywhere’ and then you give me five dollars for a shaved ice,” Jordan sighed dramatically, flopping into the sand the second the sunscreen dried.

“Nice try, we have shaved ice at home,” Bellamy snorted, spraying himself before sitting beside Jordan. “What’re we doing out here anyway? Surfing?”

“Nah, Madi and I surf together every day. I wanted to do something special.”

“So, what is it?”

“It’s a surprise!”

“For her, not for me. Why would you need to surprise me?”

“It’s a surprise for everyone, they should be here in a few minutes, just be patient dad,” Jordan said, pulling his phone out to check his texts. It was fully a lie. Madi and Clarke were in fact on their way and the date was partially a surprise. But Madi already knew what they were doing, the surprise part was just for their parents.

It was a perfect plan really.

Like clockwork, Madi and Clarke appeared from behind a sand dune in matching cut-off shorts. Jordan tried to put on his best dopey smile, attempting to look convincingly attracted to someone who was essentially his kid sister. But it didn’t really matter anyway, because his dad’s eyes were fixed on Clarke. The way things were going, this would be even easier than they thought.

“Hey, fancy seeing you here,” Clarke called, dropping her bag next to their things. She could feel Bellamy’s eyes on her, and she tried not to blush, instead of distracting herself by watching Jordan and Madi nervously greet each other. Admittedly, it was really cute.

“Yeah, I almost didn’t recognize you without the booth,” he chuckled, taking a step closer, suddenly hyper-aware of the way Clarke’s curls fell around her shoulders.

In one fluid motion, she peeled off her thin tank, leaving her in just a sky blue bikini top and her cut-offs. She had debated all night about whether or not it was appropriate to wear this to chaperone her daughter’s first date. It probably wasn’t. But she didn’t get to wear things like this very often. Usually, surfing required a rash guard and her mom friends were all more the types to wear one-pieces. It was nice to feel her age, to be able to act like someone who was only in her thirties and very single. She knew it looked good…and it felt nice to catch the brief second where Bellamy’s gaze flicked down her body.

It had been a long time since a man had looked at her like that.

Especially a man who looked as good as Bellamy did shirtless. She knew he was ripped; it was obvious even under his baggy t-shirts and button-downs, but it was so much better up close. He was tall and tan, perfectly broad. Despite herself, she let her eyes flick over his abs, let herself indulge in the idea of what it would feel like to wrap her arms around his shoulders.

“I—uh, so what’s this surprise?” Madi asked, breaking the weighted silence that had fallen over the group, a small smirk playing on her lips.

“I think it would be better if I just showed you,” Jordan smiled, reaching out to take Madi’s hand before beckoning for their parents to follow.

Holding hands like this felt weird, and from the way Madi was stiffening it probably didn’t look very convincing.

“You need to stand closer to me if this is going to be even a little bit believable,” Jordan whispered harshly, bending down so only she could hear him.

Madi rolled her eyes but edged close enough that she could hold his hand in both of hers, tilting her head to look at him in a way that she hoped looked lovestruck. In reality, she was looking at his ear, but it was better than nothing.

“I don’t care how convincing this needs to look, I’m not letting my first kiss happen with you,” she replied, pushing up on her tiptoes so he could hear her.

“In your dreams…”

Resisting the urge to shove him, Madi edged even closer, pinching him just hard enough to leave a mark.

“They’re cute, aren’t they?” Clarke smiled, readjusting her bag as she and Bellamy followed from a comfortable distance.

“To be young and in love,” Bellamy agreed, reaching out to take the pink tote bag from Clarke and swinging it over his own shoulder. “Did you see this coming? It kind of threw me off guard.”

“I mean, I had my suspicions…they spend a lot of time together, but I can’t really say I foresaw it going this far.” 

“Their relationship always kind of reminded me of me and my sister…so the romantic thing is an interesting twist,” he shrugged, watching the two of them carefully. It was kind of a sudden shift, not exactly an unexpected one…but still a little weird.

“You have a sister?” Clarke asked, suddenly realizing there was a lot about Bellamy that she didn’t know. It was weird, they had known each other for years, but they didn’t really know each other that well.

“Yeah, Octavia. She lives on the mainland, up in Chicago.”

“Illinois is a far cry from Hawaii…”

“Yeah, I could never imagine living somewhere like that. It snows there…” he shuddered, skin prickling at the thought of living somewhere where the temperature dipped below 70 degrees.

“What made her move?”

“The accident…with Jordan’s biological parents, I think it really scared her off the ocean,” he whispered, dropping his voice low enough that the kids couldn’t hear. He and Jordan talked about his parents sometimes, but it was usually a tough conversation, one that took a few hours to recover from. Now was not the time to have him hear this kind of stuff. “I don’t blame her; I couldn’t surf for years afterward.”

“I can’t even imagine what that must’ve been like…it makes sense that she wants to be landlocked now,” Clarke sighed, reaching out to place a hand on Bellamy’s arm.

“Yeah, she likes it there. She got married a couple of years ago, her husband owns a really fancy restaurant downtown. They seem happy,” he said, trying to change the subject. Even after all these years, talking about the accident still made something in his stomach twist. He hadn’t been there when it happened, too tired from work. He was watching Jordan when he got the call, he hadn’t known it at the time, but that was the day they became a family. Just the two of them against the world.

Clarke smiled softly at him, sliding her hand slowly down his arm.

It was meant to be a comforting gesture, but it sent a wave of heat through his body. There was always something about her that intrigued him.

As weird as chaperoning this date was, it was the opportunity he always wanted. Back when Madi and Jordan were little, when he and Clarke were both just single parents trying to keep their heads above water, he always hoped something would happen. They used to spend hours sitting in an old empty diner, trading jokes and parenting stories while their kids colored under the table.

It was nice to have someone to talk to who understood. They kept their conversations light, never truly delving into the circumstances that made them parents at such a young age. They were bound by unspoken tragedy, just two people drinking coffee and escaping their reality for just a little bit. Their conversations were some of the best he ever had—mindless in the grand scheme, but always just funny enough to leave him clutching his sides. Those mornings with Clarke were part of the only reason he stayed alive during those first few years. He always regretted that he never told her that, never let her know how much their friendship meant to him.

But years had gone by since then. A lot changed; their kids were basically grown up. But somehow, walking across the sand and talking to Clarke, felt staggeringly similar to sitting across from her in the diner. She brought out a vulnerability in him, almost by accident, she was just so easy to be around.

“We’re here,” Jordan announced loudly, causing them both to jump. For a minute, they both forgot they were supervising a date, so lost in the conversation, in all the things left unsaid between them.

Perched in the sand, were two sea kayaks, bright orange and just large enough to fit two people comfortably. Jordan stood beside them proudly, gesturing toward each one with a broad smile on his face.

“Oh my gosh, this is so cute!” Madi squealed, throwing her arms around Jordan’s neck with an excited squeal.

Bellamy and Clarke shared a look, dumping their towels and sunscreen in the sand before moving to dislodge what was presumably their kayak.

“The things we do for our children,” Clarke teased, wiping her hands off on her bare thighs while Bellamy removed the oars.

“And they repay us by leaving without a word,” Bellamy chuckled, nodding toward where Madi and Jordan had already pushed off from the shore, paddling away while giggling together.

It took a few extra minutes, but they finally managed to get into the water, following the kids’ path from a safe distance.

The ocean was calm, the midafternoon sun beating down on their shoulders as they glided through the waves. Around this time of year, the water was always extra clear and small herds of fish were just visible beneath the surface. It was peaceful, the soft whoosh of the waves paired with Bellamy’s quiet humming.

“When I first moved out here, I would take my dad’s old boat and bring it right out to the middle of the ocean. It was a dinky old thing, but I packed it to the brim with art supplies. I loved the reefs, I’d never seen anything like it. So, I would dive down, try to memorize it as best as I could and then come up and paint what I saw,” Clarke admitted softly, thinking back to those early days on the island. This was never supposed to be permanent, just a few months to clear her head and pack up her dad’s house, mourn him. But she fell in love with the ocean, the people, this island felt like home in a way that Virginia never had.

She rarely talked about what brought her here, what her life was like before Madi. It didn’t really matter, this was where her life really began, where she became the person she wanted to be.

“I remember those paintings, with the colorful fish and the sun on the water. People went totally crazy for them,” Bellamy nodded, not wanting to probe too deeply.

“My very first farmer’s market,” she nodded, turning just enough that she could see his face. The smile he gave her, soft, genuine, the corners of his mouth crinkling just slightly, made something in her chest tighten.

“So, what do you do these days? When you’re not selling paintings to the masses that is.”

“I’m an art therapist. I work at the little outpatient clinic on Hana ave. usually with the older patients,” she said, once against thrown off by the fact that they had never talked about this. She sometimes wondered what he did outside of the farmer’s market, but it was never the nature of their relationship to get too personal. “What about you?”

“I run the martial arts studio on South Kihei with Miller.”

“Wait, what?! This entire time I’ve thought you were a full-time pineapple farmer,” Clarke exclaimed, laughing to herself over all the times she pictured Bellamy in a pair of overalls picking pineapples from trees. The idea of him shirtless doing backflips was honestly a lot more appealing. No wonder he was so ripped.

Bellamy laughed, a full-bellied deep laugh. It warmed her to her core, a wave of fondness rushing through her. She loved his laugh, always had. He was one of those people who laughed with his entire body, making it so that it was almost impossible to not laugh alongside him.

“Trust me when I say that doesn’t exactly pay the bills. My mom never wanted to turn it into one of those Dole-esque commercial tourist traps, so it’s mainly just a hobby farm at this point. We have a few animals now too, it’s kind of my passion project.”

“This whole time I’ve had you pegged as farmer Bellamy, color me surprised that I was totally wrong.”

“If you make any overalls jokes, I will tip this canoe over,” he teased, rocking side to side just enough to elicit a squeal from Clarke.

“Can you take me on a ride in your tractor later?” she laughed, holding tightly onto her oar as they moved.

Bellamy shot her a loaded look, rocking the kayak just a little harder. He smirked at her, almost like he was daring her to protest. The glint in his eyes and the slight upturn of his lip sent a wave of heat through her body. This was dangerous, their kids were only a few feet away…but she couldn’t bring herself to put a stop to it.

“You wouldn’t dare…” she said, dropping her voice to almost a whisper, edging just a little closer to him.

“Oh, but I would,” he said, giving her just a second of warning before unceremoniously dumping the canoe into the water. She grabbed onto his biceps as they fell to the water, letting herself enjoy the way his arms wrapped around her as they came back to the surface.

Well, maybe this window wasn’t closed quite as firmly as she thought.

***

“Should we give them a minute?” Bellamy whispered, catching the back of Clarke’s elbow as they neared the parking lot.

Madi and Jordan disappeared over the sand dune, heads crowded close together, giggling over something. The innocence of it was almost nostalgic. It was sweet, summer, childhood love. They would remember summers like this forever, think back on it fondly every time they spent a sticky evening on the beach.

“Yeah, let’s let them have this moment,” she agreed, giving her ice cream cone an over the top lick as she sat down in the sand, letting her back rest against the dune.

“I had that first kiss in that parking lot too…” he chuckled, lying down beside her. There was a respectable amount of distance between them and he longed to close the gap, to tuck her under his arm. But he didn’t want to push his luck. Today had already been amazing, for the first time in a long time, he felt like a real, single adult.

As much fun as this all was, at the end of the day…they were just chaperoning their kids’ date. Clarke didn’t sign up for him to make moves on her, it would just make her uncomfortable.

Distance was good, in fact, it was necessary.

“I hate to break this to you, but I don’t think this is Jordan’s first kiss,” she grinned, turning on her side to face him.

“Aw, yuck. Why’d you have to ruin it like that…”

“Just being honest,” Clarke shrugged, nibbling lightly on her cone. From this angle, she could see Bellamy’s face perfectly. The soft evening sun hit his face just right, highlighting the honey brown in his eyes, the soft curve of his nose and cheekbones. It was a different picture of him than the one she usually saw at the market. This Bellamy was softer, more relaxed, carefree. She liked this side of him even more.

He made her feel nervous, young, bashful—for most of today, this felt like her first date too. Clarke couldn’t remember the last time she had this much fun, the last time she had butterflies like this.

***

“How long do we have to pretend to be making out?” Madi whispered, sitting on the edge of Jordan’s truck.

“I don’t know…they’re still behind the sand dune. I can’t see anything,” he replied, peeking over the corner of the jeep toward the path.

“Stop, looking, they’re going to catch you!” she scolded, pulling Jordan back around the car by the back of his shirt.

“Do you think they’re making out?!” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he climbed to sit beside her.

“Probably not. It took them like a decade to get this far…I don’t think one afternoon of kayaking is going to be enough.”

“They’re going to have to catch on eventually, at the rate this is going we’re going to have to get fake married.”

Madi smacked him on the arm, just hard enough for a small cloud of sand to fly off his skin.

“You cannot afford the kind of wedding I want on your surf shop salary.”

“You are so high maintenance; I would waste like thousands of dollars on the polaroid film alone.”

“One day you’ll be grateful for my polaroids…maybe we can make a wall for our parents' wedding.”

“Let’s just get them to kiss first,” Jordan groaned, covering his eyes with his hand as Madi dug into her bag and pulled out her camera, bracing himself for the overly bright flash that was sure to follow. This was going to be much more difficult than he thought.


	2. Hana Road of Loveeee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry I vanished, inspo has been hard to come by these days.

Clarke ran her finger gently across the edge of an old, worn photograph, the paper was lifted slightly from age, just barely holding on to the small page of the scrapbook. It was something her mom had always done, made little books of her life events, corners pressed gently with patterned tape, and careful notes written under each photo. Every stage of her childhood was thoroughly documented, easy, and nostalgic to look back on.

She never envisioned herself making them for her own child one day, it was something so motherly that it felt almost out of character. But when she got Madi, the book kind of came together on its own—almost by accident. She hadn’t had much back then, just an old polaroid camera and a few extra rolls of film. The polaroids were small and slipped away easily, so she got into the habit of taping them into a clean sketchbook. Before she knew it, a memory book just came together. Just like her mother once had, she began writing small descriptions, filling the empty spaces.

But where hers differed from her mom’s was that they weren’t pristine homages to Madi’s childhood. Rather, they acted almost like a journal for those early years, a timeline of their journey. In a way, she was still growing up back then too. Clarke was barely 21 when she found Madi, had relatively little understanding of what it took to raise a 4-year-old child. That first year, in particular, was incredibly difficult, and having pictures to look back on from the good times, helped her power through the sleepless nights and endless tantrums.

The book she was holding in her lap was from a little later on, when Madi was around 6. Things had calmed down by then, the photos documenting their adventures and them goofing around at the farmer’s market. There were so many good memories crammed into this one, faded pictures and old sketches, pressed flowers, and scribbled notes in her bubbly 23-year-old handwriting.

She paused on a picture of Madi and Jordan on the beach, tiny bodies couched in the sand, pointing excitedly at a hermit crab scuttling in front of them. In looped script below it, Clarke wrote: 

_“Madi and her best friend “Jordy” on a beach day. They convinced us to come down to the beach to watch the fireworks! 7-4-2011”_

All the pictures on the next few pages were from that day on the beach. Most of Madi and Jordan splashing in the water, making sandcastles, hugging one another in the way that little kids do—but there was also a staggering number of photos of Bellamy. He was shirtless in most, wearing just a pair of baggy swim trunks. He looked, boy-ish and fresh-faced. It was strange to look back on. He seemed so much older to her back then, so mature.

Some of the shots were of him holding Madi and Jordan, tossing them into the water, showing them little shells, but others were simply close-ups of him alone. There were even one of their faces smushed together in a blurry selfie. They looked impossibly young, cheeks soft, eyes bright. Seeing herself in these pictures was almost like looking at a completely different person.

She had sketched out one of the photos on the opposite page, a shot of Bellamy with Madi propped on one shoulder and Jordan on the other. It was so sweet, even almost a decade later, it made something in her chest tighten. Clarke remembered this day vividly, it was one of the only times the four of them hung out beyond the farmer’s market and the diner. They had so much fun, stayed out until the last firework fired into the sky and almost everyone else had cleared out from the beach. For one day, a salty sandy afternoon, it felt like she had a real family. If she suspended her practicality, they were just two parents bringing their kids to the beach for the Fourth of July.

But at the end of the day, they were two kids themselves, in way over their heads, just trying to stay alive. For both of them, that day was a break from their usual lives, an opportunity to eat ice cream and play in the ocean. It always stuck out to her because it was the first time she had felt her age in years.

That was the beauty of her and Bellamy’s dynamic, they just kind of understood each other. Everyone else asked a million questions, probed into details that she never wanted to go into. With Bellamy, he just fit right in, he had too much of his own shit to deal with to ever probe too deeply into hers. It was a dynamic that was hard to place, there wasn’t a good way to classify it—they weren’t friends before they became parents and were brought together by circumstance rather than by choice. It always left things tinged with a slight awkwardness, like neither of them knew exactly how to act around the other.

Part of her had always wondered whether things would’ve been different if she had just put her pride aside and crossed the five feet between their stalls at the farmer’s market on her own. But Madi had done the hard part for her. Kids had a way of never feeling awkward about meeting new people. The very first time Clarke brought her to the farmer’s market, Madi marched right up to Jordan and asked him to be her friend. He, of course, told her that girls were gross and ran away, but she persisted and somehow they had been inseparable ever since.

Clarke meanwhile, spent a full year staring at Bellamy when he wasn’t looking and silently snarking whenever annoying tall and beautiful women stopped by his truck to ask questions about pineapples and flirt shamelessly with him.

Clearly from the number of photos she took of him, the snark was jealousy.

She never expected on that beach day, that a decade later, Madi and Jordan would be dating…or that she would still be pining after Bellamy.

“Knock, knock,” Madi said softly, stepping out onto Clarke’s balcony with two steaming mugs.

“What a sweet surprise,” Clarke smiled from her place on the swing, lifting the blanket and gesturing for Madi to join her.

“It’s a beautiful morning, isn’t it? The calm after a storm,” she said, snuggling into Clarke’s side while they both looked out onto the early morning waves, bathed in the pinkish glow of the rising sun.

This view would never get old. Clarke grew up in the city, in a place full of tall buildings and bustling streets. Waking up to the sound of waves, the feel of the balmy ocean air, it was something she would always be grateful for.

“You had fun last weekend, right?” Madi asked, smiling softly at the scrapbook in Clarke’s lap. “When we went kayaking?”

“It was a nice change of pace,” Clarke nodded, covering her smile with the lip of her mug. Madi could read her pretty easily, she couldn’t let on exactly how much she had enjoyed the afternoon with Bellamy. “How are you feeling about your very first date? It seemed like it went pretty well…” 

Madi paused, taking a long sip from her mug as she studied the photos, tracing the edges of the worn photographs with the tip of her finger. She always loved these little rectangle shots; it was the perfect way to capture a moment. There was something so organic about the colorful faded ink, the easy way they fit onto a page. When she was little, she would spread out on the living room floor while her mom carefully set her photos into a book.

She loved them so much, she asked for a camera of her own for her 9th birthday and pretty much hadn’t stopped taking pictures since. It was interesting as she grew older, to see how her captures of the same events differed just slightly from her mom’s.

“It was really fun! Different than I was expecting…kind of awkward, you know?” she said finally, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Because Bellamy and I were there? That’s kind of understandable—” Clarke began, squeezing Madi’s shoulders tightly. It was so comforting, the gesture so sincere, that it almost made Madi feel guilty about what she was about to do. But the keyword was, almost. She had never lied to her mom before, there was really never a need to…but this was a worthy cause. It was for the greater good.

“No, no, actually that really helped. It’s weird to hang out with Jordan as more than friends. We’ve just been close for so long that it’s just…I was expecting it to be different,” she said carefully, eyes lingering on a photo of her and Jordan holding seashells over their eyes.

“New relationships are always kind of weird, but if you’re just not feeling it then it’s okay to communicate that to him. Sometimes friendships are just meant to stay that way.”

Madi resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother had no idea how true that statement was. It was amazing that even when she had no clue what was going on, she still managed to be right. Well, amazing and also kind of annoying. Of course, this wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. Jordan had convinced her last night that this was already in the bag, but this conversation was definitely indicating that he was wrong. This was going to be anything other than easy.

Her mom was probably going to think she was some kind of emotionally stunted freak by the end of this, but it was a worthy embarrassment. Madi had never seen Clarke smile and giggle the way she did on that kayak. It was nice to see her happy, to see her be able to be nervous and giddy for once.

Madi never felt like she was missing out by not having a dad. It was always her and her mom against the world and most of the time, they kicked butt. It was fun growing up just the two of them, they would laugh and play and do facemasks and watch movies. But as she got older, she started to worry that her mom was lonely. She was so young, younger than all her friends’ moms by over ten years and while they were a lot of perks to it just being the two of them, sometimes she felt like she was leaving her mom behind.

Clarke had friends, friends who felt like second parents to Madi too, but not a partner. That was what she deserved. Someone who would be there for her when Madi wasn’t, someone to make her smile every day and take care of her even though she didn’t need it.

Bellamy deserved that too. He and Clarke had lived echoes of each other’s lives in a way. They both loved so strongly and cared for others so deeply, it was the least they could do to help them finally prioritize themselves.

If she had to suck it up and pretend to be in love with Jordan for a while, she would live.

“It’s not that I’m not interested,” Madi corrected quickly, she needed to lay it on a little more. “I really really like him, but—I just need a little more time. He’s so cute and it makes me feel all fluttery and nervous that I don’t act like myself and I do all sorts of weird things. He invited me to spend the whole day together tomorrow, he has something really fun planned apparently and I want to go so badly, but…would you come with me? I really don’t want to mess this up.”

Clarke was momentarily thrown.

Really, she shouldn’t have been, this was to be expected.

One date wasn’t suddenly going to make her daughter feel confident with boys. Maybe offering to do this was a mistake. Was she emotionally stunting Madi by letting her rely so heavily on having her mom around? This was probably going to be the kind of thing she discussed with her therapist in ten years.

But on the other hand, it was just a high school date.

Maybe it wasn’t that serious. Madi had her entire life to go on dates by herself. Plus, the kayaking adventure hadn’t exactly been unenjoyable. Bellamy was so easy to be around, made her laugh every time he opened his mouth. She hadn’t wanted it to end. For the past week, she debated calling him, hovered over the old contact in her phone more than once. There was a chance his number had changed in the last decade, that she was stressing out over basically nothing, but she couldn’t help but hope.

The spark was still there.

The one from these photos, the flutter she felt when he grabbed her around her waist and tossed her gently into the ocean. It was different now, more relaxed, less desperate—a slow burn rather than a raging heat. But looking at him, talking to him, it felt like no time had passed at all. He made her feel young again, open, alive, carefree.

It would be nice to see him again, to see the farm, get a glimpse into his life beyond the farmer’s market. Something about seeing Bellamy at home, in his house, sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. This was totally crazy…not to mention, extremely inappropriate but despite her hesitation, she wanted to say yes.

“One more date couldn’t hurt I guess,” Clarke sighed, finishing the rest of her coffee, hoping it wasn’t too obvious that she was more than a little excited about this.

Madi didn’t even bother hiding her joy as she pumped her fist in the air and hopped up from the outdoor swing to dance in a small circle.

“Why don’t you go call him? I need to work on my sketch anyway…”

Madi gave her mom a quick kiss on the head before jogging quickly back inside, trying to resist the urge to squeal with excitement. She could barely contain herself, she needed to call Jordan. This was going to be perfect…all they needed to do now was plan it.

It was time to pull out all the stops.

Clarke watched through the window as Madi whipped out her phone, a broad smile on her face as she chatted on the other line. She really was smitten. Part of her wished she could be carefree like that again, feel almost giddy about a boy.

With a deep sigh, she eyed her own phone, sitting on the glass table…mocking her. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a boy to be excited about…but she felt less excited and more sick to her stomach.

This should be easy; it was just a phone call.

It wasn’t a big deal.

All she had to do was muster up the courage to do it.

But that was easier said than done.

She scrolled through her contacts, clicking on Bellamy’s name, reading it over and over.

It had been years since she used his number.

Texting was expensive back then, a luxury neither of them could really afford. She would go outside to the balcony of her dad’s old apartment and call him, usually stealing a few minutes during Madi’s nap. She hadn’t had many friends, it wasn’t until Madi started school that she met Raven. Bellamy was pretty much the only person she ever wanted to talk to, the only person who made her laugh with her entire body.

He always answered on the first ring and every time, she would wonder whether he loved these calls a much as she did or if he was like that with everyone.

They never talked about anything important, just discussed plans to go to the beach after the farmer’s market or if he thought a certain tablecloth would look good on her booth, sometimes they would just talk about nothing, discuss the different species of birds flying past. Even on her most stressful days, when she really couldn’t afford the extra expense of her cell phone minutes, those calls always made her feel better. Looking back, she wished she had asked more questions, pushed the relationship past surface level. There was so much about Bellamy that she didn’t know, that she wanted to find out.

But the past was the past.

This was her chance to change it. Maybe they would never be anything other than friends, but if that was all they could have then she wanted to at least be friends.

With a deep breath, she pressed his number.

_Ring._

“Clarke?” he asked, confused and a little out of breath. He answered on the first ring, like always.

It was good to know some things never changed.

“Hey, I know this is probably weird and out of the blue—”

“It’s not weird,” he assured, voice softening immediately. “I’m glad you called.”

“I was looking through some old pictures, I found the ones from around 2011. The 4th of July pictures of Madi and Jordan are insanely cute,” Clarke said, trying desperately not to read too far into what he just said.

“Man, that feels like a lifetime ago…”

“We look so young, like babies. Your hair is all stiff and gelled back—”

“Oh, no, no. Let’s not talk about the gel. It was a bad time for hair. Butttt, if this framed picture I have from that day is accurate…you and your daughter have matching white girl cornrows,” he teased, the sound of shuffling clouding the line as he presumably walked through his house to find the picture.

“It was a holiday!” she gasped, trying to sound indignant, but she choked on a laugh too quickly for it to be convincing.

“At least we learned to dress ourselves better in the last ten years.”

“Who would’ve thought back then that we would be chaperoning those two little weirdos on their dates?”

“Did Madi tell you about the date tonight?”

“Yeah, I tried my best to not outwardly show her how weird I think it is. But I’ll be there!”

“It’s definitely weird. Especially because last weekend they just ignored us the entire time. But based on what he told me…it’s going to be quite the day,” he said, clearly just as wary about this whole thing as she was. He definitely had a point about them being ignored. The whole situation was impossibly strange, but really there was no good explanation for why Madi and Jordan wanted to have their dates chaperoned.

“Any way you want to drop me a few hints?”

“I’ve been sworn to secrecy…the kid knows where I live,” Bellamy chuckled, the noise behind him fading away as he spoke. “I don’t need my barn graffitied or something.”

“I can’t believe you have a barn,” she laughed, relaxing back into the cushions, grateful for the pivot away from their weird date situation.

This wasn’t nearly as awkward as she expected, in fact, talking like this felt like the most normal thing in the world.

If she closed her eyes and just listened, it was like she was back on that cramped balcony, with barely enough room to stand, nervous and giddy and relieved to finally have an adult to talk to.

A lot had changed since then—most of it for the better, but he still made her feel the same way he had all those years ago.

“Wanna guess what kind of animals I have?” he asked, voice teasing. Despite herself, she imagined him in a pair of overalls leaning against the side of the barn, maybe with a chicken in his lap.

“You definitely seem like the kind of person who has cows. I bet they all have like flowers tucked into their collars and cute old lady names.”

“My cows do not have old lady names thank you very much,” he said quietly, clearly trying to suppress his laughter. She could almost see it, his shoulders shaking, fist pressed to his lips. The sound of it sent a warm ripple of fondness to her chest, like a shot of whiskey, heat starting below her collarbone and radiating all the way through her limbs.

***

“This is much…bigger than I expected,” Clarke said, balancing a stack of towels on one hand as she hopped out of the truck.

It was almost idyllic, the early morning sun, and the stray chickens roaming across the driveway. From a distance, there were pens of cows and pigs, all chattering quietly as they presumably ate their breakfast.

“It’s even bigger on the inside! You can’t even see the pineapple fields from here,” Madi grinned, winking at her mom as she swung their tote bag over her shoulder and started up the walkway.

Bellamy and Jordan were both just inside the gate, shoveling hay inside the cow pen. It was quite the sight, both of them fully engrossed in the task. Even from a distance, Clarke could see the flex of Bellamy’s arms as he worked, the sleeve of his shirt straining just slightly from the size of his biceps. Her staring was probably painfully obvious, but she couldn’t help herself, farmer Bellamy was a view she had been waiting way too long to see.

Clarke was awestruck by the farm. Everywhere she looked, there was something new.

Madi seemed right at home though. Without even a flicker of hesitation, she dropped her bag and dipped under the metal fence with relative ease, making a beeline toward one of the baby cows. It was oddly relaxed for someone so nervous around their crush that they needed a chaperone. Especially considering the way Jordan quietly followed, giving Bellamy a short nod as he set his rake against the side of the fence. If anything, he seemed more nervous than she did.

“Sorry we’re kind of early,” Clarke said sheepishly, turning away from her daughter as Bellamy moved to open the pen for her.

“No problem, we were just finishing up,” he assured, gesturing for her to follow him into the enclosure. “Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

“Nope, Madi was extra eager to get going as early as possible.”

“Well then you’re actually just in time, we just got fresh milk and eggs,” he grinned, pointing to a thick metal canister that was resting against the fence.

“You are a legit farmer.”

“Yeah, it kind of comes with the farm,” he chuckled, watching as she carefully approached one of the older cows and held her hand out for it to sniff.

“That’s my girl, Gertrude. You can pet her if you want, she’s a sweet girl,” Bellamy said, reaching out to give the cow a firm pat on the side. He looked relaxed, old grey t-shirt well-loved, his hair just slightly mussed. This what he looked like the other six days of the week, the side of Bellamy she always wondered about.

Bellamy stepped back, watching as Clarke rubbed her palm against the cow’s cheek, giggling when Gertrude leaned into it.

“Well aren’t you just the sweetest,” she smiled, bending down to press a soft kiss to the cow’s head.

Bellamy tried to keep his face neutral, but internally he was completely losing it. He knew that having Clarke here would probably put his poker face to the test but seeing her with the cow was almost too much. It really shouldn’t be as attractive as it was, and yet, he somehow liked her even more than he did five minutes ago, and he didn’t really think that was possible.

She looked—beautiful.

Well, she always did, but more so than usual. She fit surprising well into his life on the farm, in her airy white tank-top and worn denim shorts.

Carefully, she sat in the grass beside Gertrude, stroking her back gently, watching as Jordan and Madi disappeared into the barn.

“This is…wonderful. So much better than I imagined—not that I was like imagining what your house looked like or anything but—” she rambled, cheeks burning. It was a lie, she imagined this farm hundreds of times, made up scenarios where Bellamy would show her around and they drank wine in the fields. It was gratuitous and frankly, embarrassing but somehow, sitting in the grass with him and petting cows was better than her fantasies (even if he wasn’t wearing overalls right now).

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Bellamy shrugged, running a hand through his hair as he gave her a lopsided grin.

Her heart fluttered and she longed to reach out to push the few stray curls off his forehead. It was so easy, almost painfully so, being together like this.

“Do you want to see the best part of having cows?” he asked, taking a few steps forward.

“How could it possibly get better than this…”

“Scoot, lemme show you,” he said, gesturing for her to move over just slightly before lying back against the cow’s side. He patted the grass beside him, making space for her to also lean back. Carefully, she followed his lead, hyperaware of how close their bodies were. There was barely a breath of space between their shoulders, the soft material of his flannel brushing lightly against her bare skin. The heat from the cow’s body radiated against her back, soft and comforting, just enough to take the edge off her nerves.

“This is very Tom Sawyer,” she giggled, tilting her head back so she could see the clouds. Time felt like it moved more slowly out here, like there was nothing else in the world except the two of them and the cows milling around.

“I’ll take ya down to the crick later and we can have a nice swim,” he said in an overblown country accent, plucking a dandelion from the grass and placing it between his teeth. He raised one eyebrow at her suggestively before leaning back, holding the flower in place. His smile was gentle, boy-ish, the lines of laughter painting his cheeks faintly. It was so endearing, so easy, she wanted to hold on to this moment as long as possible.

They were even closer than they were before, his arm was now firmly pressed against hers. The hard-line of his bicep sent her heart jumping to her throat, sent a flurry of impractical thoughts swirling to her brain.

It was too much, too comfortable, she knew she should pull away, that they should stand up and go find their kids.

They were chaperones, friends, she couldn’t let her brain think that this was a date. She had hoped it would be easier to push her feelings down, that she would be able to keep them hidden like she had all those years ago. But this proved that was easier said than done.

Bellamy had always been—unexpected.

***

“Sooo rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama everywhere you feel…heyyyy mama rock me,” Madi yelled, pushing up slightly out of her seat so the wind fully caught her hair, whipping it around her face.

“Rock me mama like the wind and the rain,” Jordan yelled back, also pushing up so he was propped up beside her, tipping his head back against the salty island breeze.

They traded the lyrics of the song back and forth loudly, momentarily dropping their couple act and losing themselves in the song. It was something they did together when they drove home from surfing practice, shouting lyrics as loudly as they could, waving plastic cups of diet Coke from McDonald’s out the window.

It was definitely a lot more fun with neither of them was driving and they weren’t exhausted from hours of paddling in the ocean.

Right before the song wound down, Jordan reached over and pulled the drawstring of her hoodie so hard that it bunched up around her face.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” she yelped, reaching around blindly for the strings his hoodie to retaliate but it proved to be pointless with her limited vision.

Bellamy watched Madi and Jordan bicker in the rearview mirror, sneaking a glance ever so often while trying to keep from swerving off the road. The more he watched them interact, the more this whole dating thing threw him off. Sometimes they acted almost disgustingly couple-y, but a lot of the time, they argued like siblings. The weird dynamic coupled with the whole chaperone thing was enough to throw him off, but he just couldn’t make heads or tails of what exactly was going on.

There was absolutely no way in hell this was a normal dating situation.

He longed to reach across the center console, to whisper his suspicions to Clarke, maybe lace their hands together, joke about how weird their kids were being. But he couldn’t—especially not with Jordan and Madi sitting right behind them.

This whole thing with Clarke was confusing.

Before this, he had tucked his feelings for her away in a neat little part of his brain, the part for things that he knew would never happen. It stung a few years ago when he finally came to terms with the fact that he missed his window, but it was just how life worked sometimes. He always hoped they would find their moment, that they would find a few seconds alone while their kids were asleep on the beach and he would be able to tell her how he felt.

It just never felt like the right time. He couldn’t risk losing his favorite person.

But then, before he knew it, their kids grew up and didn’t need to be supervised anymore.

And he lost her anyway.

Without the excuse of their kids, he and Clarke just kind of drifted apart. Sure, they joked around together at the farmer’s market, but things were never quite the same again.

Never in a million years did he think that they would come back into each other’s lives because their kids somehow needed to be chaperoned again.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t grateful for the opportunity, even if this whole situation was incredibly bizarre.

Madi and Jordan were taking turns yanking on each other’s hoods, functionally wrestling in the backseat as they drove up the winding roads.

“I’m not driving the road to Hana like a tourist so you two can pull sweatshirts over your faces and not look outside,” Bellamy yelled over his shoulder, turning down the radio slightly so they could hear him over the whip of the wind.

They sprung apart, pulling their hoods off their heads sheepishly before settling into separate corners of the Jeep to stare out the window.

Yet another weird interaction.

Surely, two teenagers who were dating would want to sit closer together.

Bellamy frowned slightly, bringing his focus back to the road as he considered the dynamic. He just couldn’t shake the idea that something was off. He chanced a look over at Clarke, curious about whether or not she noticed the way their kids were acting, but her eyes were closed, a faint smile on her lips as the wind blew her hair back.

She seemed totally at peace, just enjoying the cool breeze.

Clarke wasn’t really a relaxed person in any sense of the word, she was always moving, always doing something. It was rare to see her so…unguarded. Even before Madi, Clarke always carried a weight, a hardness that he could never quite place. Embarrassingly, he spent a lot of time sneaking glances at her back then. Every time he peeked over at her booth, he found something new he liked about her.

Sometimes, it was something small, like the way her eyes caught the light or the tiny mole right above her lip. But other times, it was the way she giggled at the dog who ran between the stalls or blushed when a customer complimented one of her paintings. It was depressing really, how long he had held on to this crush, how strong his feelings for her were after all these years.

There was always something about her that he couldn’t shake. She understood him in a way that few people did, even though they barely knew each other in the grand scheme of life. Their friendship felt fragile, both now and then. He never wanted to rock the boat, but he had always wanted to push it further, to find out more about her, figure out what exactly it was that made her so guarded.

In a way, this weird thing between their kids was a gift. He felt uncomfortable about it at first, it was probably inappropriate to date his son’s girlfriend’s mom. But the longer this went on, the more he was starting to think that Madi and Jordan weren’t dating at all.

He glanced at Clarke again, her eyes were open this time and she was sketching something on the back of a receipt. It was a quick look, but she felt his gaze on her and turned her head just slightly to the side so she could give him a soft smile. It was enough to send a flutter of nerves through his stomach, no matter how many times she did that, it would always feel like the first time.

“Oh my God, you _have_ to stop,” Madi shrieked, springing up so suddenly that both Bellamy and Clarke jumped in surprise. Bellamy swerved slightly, just barely managing to stay on the road as Madi continued to yell for him to stop.

“It’s coconut water!” she yelled, pointing excitedly to the small shack on the side of the road. There were a handful of them all bunched around the turn, filled with colorful signs and cheesy sayings meant to appeal to tourists.

“Don’t yell like that, we literally could have died. Over a coconut no less. We have a coconut tree in our backyard,” Clarke sighed, eying the stall wearily. For a second, she was convinced, Madi caught the look she just shared with Bellamy. It was brief, but something about it felt loaded, like for a minute he was feeling the same connection between them that she was.

It was almost a relief that this outburst was about something completely ridiculous.

“Yeah, but these ones have flowers on top! And collectible straws with a mini-hula dancer,” she huffed, jumping out of the Jeep before anyone else could protest, completely oblivious to the fact that Clarke was still trying to steady her heartbeat.

“You realize they’re charging you 11 bucks for that straw, right?” Jordan groaned, already pulling his wallet out as he followed grudgingly, slamming the door behind him, leaving Bellamy and Clarke alone with a lingering tinge of awkwardness and a general sense of confusion.

***

“Let’s give them a minute,” Clarke whispered, beckoning for Bellamy to follow her behind the rocks before she dipped under the water and swam below the small waterfall. Madi and Jordan didn’t exactly seem like they wanted to be alone, but it was a good excuse to have a few minutes by themselves.

She knew the road to Hana well. When she was little and would come to visit her dad, she was enamored with the idea that there were endless stretched of greenery to explore, rolling waterfalls and soft dirt trails. It was what she always longed for, still and quiet, completely peaceful. She used to look up at the trees and think about how she wanted to live in the forests forever, dive below the waterfalls and turn into a mermaid. Being back was like a lost childhood dream, a glimpse back into an easier time.

Clarke emerged on the other side of the waterfall, tipping her head back and allowing the water to roll down her shoulders. The sun beat down on them, warming the water, the heat contrasting sharply with the cool slide of rocks under her feet, the slip of algae between her toes.

“Did you ever come here when you were a kid?” she asked, leaning back so she could just float on the surface of the water.

“Yeah, all the time. We never had anything to do during the summer, so all the neighborhood kids would spend hours on the cliffs, diving off of them over and over. My mom never let us buy any of the touristy stuff, she considered it a waste of money, so this place always reminds me of sunburn, bologna sandwiches and sticky cans of Mr. Pibb,” he answered softly, reaching out to press his hand against the curve of her back, keeping her from dipping below the surface. It was hard to think about those times. Back when everything was simple when his mom was alive and Octavia was a free-spirited mess, before they lost Harper and Monty.

“My dad used to make us bologna sandwiches when we came out here too. It was always our little secret…my mom would’ve lost her shit if she ever knew. This place always makes me think of him,” she smiled, squinting against the bright afternoon sun, trying to make out his features. There was the soft tinge of grief that always came with talking about her dad, but it was mixed with fondness as she looked up at the outline of Bellamy’s face.

“This place is like magic, it feels like it can take you back in time…” he murmured, trailing his fingers across her skin as he stepped back.

She immediately missed the heat of his palm, the ghost of his touch leaving her skin tingling.

He didn’t go far, though. With a boyish wink, he reached out, twining their hands together as she straightened.

Wordlessly, he led her out of the water, keeping their hands locked as they climbed the steep rocks. He was almost giddy, the dull flutter of nerves paired with the excitement of being back around the waterfalls was almost intoxicating. For a moment, he could almost taste those young, carefree summers. Right now, all that mattered was the beautiful girl beside him and the adventures they were going to have.

“Just pretend for a minute, you’re 17,” he said, turning toward her, not even trying to resist the urge to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. 

“So I’m totally invincible and nothing matters except this exact moment?” she asked, trying to keep her thoughts straight as Bellamy’s hand brushed against her cheek. 

“Exactly,” he grinned, leading her to the edge of the bluff, holding tightly to her hand. He gestured down to the water and then back to them.

She looked down at the wide expanse of water below. It was a steep jump, one that sent her stomach flipping. Even as a kid, she was never bold enough to try jumping off the cliffs. She would sometimes linger around the edges, watching as people screamed, smiles spanning their entire faces as fell into the water below. She always wanted to, but she never mustered the courage. It was too big, too intimidating.

“It’s—it’s kind of a long way down isn’t it?” she asked, taking a step back from the edge, an involuntary reaction to the prospect of jumping all the way down, trusting that she would land in the water safely.

Gently, Bellamy held both her shoulders, his wide palms covering them completely. From this angle, she could see his face clearly, the flecks of water on the tips of his hair, the soft dusting of freckles on his cheeks, and the even bronze tan from years of warm island sun. His eyes were soft, gentle—and he was looking at her like she was the only person in the entire world. 

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said carefully, rubbing his thumbs against the bones of her shoulders, a silent reassurance.

“Okay,” she murmured, smiling at him softly, grabbing his hand on the way down and lacing his fingers with hers. “Let’s do this.”

With their hands joined, they counted down from three, sharing one last look before they both flung themselves off the jagged rocks.

The fall was weightless, only a few seconds of absolutely exhilarating freedom. It was the most alive Clarke had felt in years. It felt like her heart was flying out of her body, the feeling of being totally weightless and the comforting warmth of Bellamy’s palm in hers was dizzying.

Their hands broke apart as they hit the water, the force of the contact sending them both plunging below the surface. Over too soon, just a flash of a feeling that people spent their entire lives chasing.

Clarke revealed in the moment for a few seconds longer, trying to make it last before the sting in her lungs forced her back to the surface.

“That was—amazing,” she yelled, paddling to the shallow area where Bellamy was already standing. He was smiling so widely that it looked like his face might split in half, clearly still riding off the adrenaline of the jump too.

“Told ya I wouldn’t let anything bad happen,” he grinned, taking a few steps toward her as she neared.

Wordlessly, Clarke wrapped him in a tight hug, so giddy from her plunge in the water that she didn’t pause long enough to feel nervous or awkward. He reciprocated almost immediately, pulling her even more tightly against his body. She buried her face in his neck, letting herself enjoy the warmth of his skin and the comfort of being held.

After years of trying to fight her feelings, it felt good to lean into them. Everything about this felt so—right. This hug felt like a shift, like the beginning of something big.

“Let’s just stay seventeen forever,” Clarke murmured against his neck, heart swooping as Bellamy lifted her up in the air, spinning her around.

***

Madi propped her phone between her shoulder and her ear, rubbing lotion on her sunburned cheeks as it rang. Jordan called her four times while she was in the shower, no texts, just missed calls. It was the first time she had heard from him in a few days, so the vagueness was a little weird.

She should’ve been worried, but it was more likely than not that he was just being dramatic.

The date had gone extremely well on all fronts. Their parents seemed happy—they even disappeared together for a while during the day. Her mom had never smiled so much. Even a few days later, she seemed more cheerful than usual.

Overall, it was a step in the right direction.

“We have a huge problem,” Jordan said bluntly as the line finally connected.

“What problem? I thought the date went way better than expected. My mom was blushing…I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen before.”

“We—I—uhh…This cannot go on for any longer, we need to initiate stage three ASAP,” Jordan whispered, voice edging with panic.

“It’s too soon…” Madi whined, shuffling the small stack of polaroids from the other day, only half listening to what Jordan was saying. “We need to make sure they’re 100% ready to talk about their feelings before we push the final set-up.”

There was a short pause, followed by some ruffling on Jordan’s end of the line. A door slammed and the line filled with the chirp of crickets and the quiet cluck of chickens. Madi’s heart dropped slightly at the shift, if Jordan was going outside, it was probably serious.

They were so close, if something got in the way, it would be devastating. Her mom’s hopes were up now, if things went south, it would be Madi’s fault that her heart got broken.

“My dad is onto to us…well, not exactly onto us, but—we can’t drag this out anymore,” he continued awkwardly, hoping that Madi didn’t pry too far into what his reasoning was. But knowing her, she wasn’t going to let this go without a fight.

“What!?! How can he be onto us? We were so sneaky!”

“He—uh…well, he figured out our relationship is fake. But he kind of missed the mark on the context of why we’re fake dating.”

“If he missed the mark on the context then why do we have to end the plan!?” she huffed, settling her polaroids on her desk and carefully stepping dipping into the bathroom. At the rate this conversation was going, she wouldn’t be able to whisper the entire time.

“My dad just gave me the world’s most awkward but well-intentioned speech about how he’s proud of me and would love me and support me if I was gay and I don’t need to hide who I am. Which would be totally awesome if I was actually gay. But I’m not. And I can’t exactly tell him otherwise without also telling him why I’m fake dating my best friend,” he huffed, dropping his voice even quieter despite being outside. “He’s being so supportive. If this goes on any longer, he’s probably going to buy an ‘I love my gay son’ shirt and ask Miller to give me a sex talk. The plan is ending this weekend because I feel like the worst son in history.”

Madi paused for a beat, trying to process what Jordan had just said. It only took a few seconds before she burst into a loud fit of laughter. The force of it sent her sliding off the side of the tub and onto the floor.

“I’m not laughing because being gay is funny, or anything. If you were gay this would be an amazing parenting moment on your dad’s part…but like, the mental image of this conversation is just—fantastic.”

“He said all this to me while we were milking a cow,” Jordan deadpanned, pausing to wait for Madi’s howling laughter to die down before he continued. “I feel so guilty, it was obvious he practiced a lot and it meant a lot that he wanted to support me, but this is spiraling out of control.”

Finally, after what felt like hours, Madi calmed herself, the realization of the seriousness of this situation settling in.

“Okay, fine. You’re right, he was trying to do the right thing and we’re completely lying to his face. It’s shitty, especially because lying about you being gay is like—devaluing the experiences of actual gay people and my mom would be incredibly disappointed in me if she found out I had any part in that.” 

“Thanks, as if I didn’t already feel guilty enough.”

“We need to fix this. We made a huge mess here…” Madi sighed, scrubbing a hand over her face.

“The only benefit is that I think our parents do actually like each other a lot. This might not all be for nothing if we can actually help them get together.” 

“If this doesn’t work out then we’re both total assholes. This has to be absolutely perfect…there is absolutely no room for error.” 

“Did you have anything specific in mind?” Jordan asked, more than a little concerned about what exactly Madi was concocting. Whatever it was, this was going to take a lot of careful planning and work.

It was definitely going to be a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeeep!! I think we all know what's coming next...cutey cuteness all around. I hope you all are staying safe and healthy and that you're all doing well. It's a weird time. A draw a lot of my writing inspo from irl experiences and interactions so it's been much harder to write than usual. But my updates should be a touch more regular from now on. 
> 
> Hope you're enjoying reading this little fluff piece as much as I'm enjoying writing it!!! I couldn't help but throw in some of my farm love in this, my grandparents own a dairy farm and napping on a cow is an experience I hope everyone gets to have one day bc it's the sweetest thing. 
> 
> Much love always!!! Please feel free to let me know what you think, I genuinely love hearing from you!!! Your thoughts and ideas mean so much to me as a writer :) Also I would love to know if you guys like having the moodboards at the start of the chapter! I like to put them here because they're fun and I know not everyone is on Tumblr but I don't want to make things more complicated for mobile readers so just lmk!! :)


	3. Only fools rush in

A single trail of ice cream dripped down the side of Madi’s hand, leaving a sticky path of neon green in its wake. This always happened, she ate too slowly and half her ice cream ended up on the ground. Jordan had warned her, tried to make her get a cup, but it just wasn’t as cute in pictures.

She was regretting her stubbornness now, but he didn’t need to know that.

“I literally told you to get a cup,” Jordan sighed, pressing a napkin into her free hand with an eyeroll. He didn’t even turn to face her, kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, where the sun was dipping slowly into the water. That fact that he knew her cone was dripping was irritating, but his glazed expression was enough to make her worry.

“We’re going to fix this,” she assured, bumping their shoulders together, trying to break him out of his funk.

They had been doing this since they were old enough to venture out on their own, using their scraped together quarters to get wilting cones of cheap soft serve and watch the sun set on the edge of the pier.

A summer tradition almost as old as their friendship itself.

When they were little, Jordan would tell her stories about the Greek Gods of the sea, tales his dad had told him before bedtime. If he was annoyed, he would talk about a big orange kraken, waiting under the surface to eat her but when he was in a good mood, they would talk about Poseidon and his wife, the waves and the storms, why the ocean was the way it is.

She missed the simplicity of it, the innocence in the way he would clumsily tell her the stories, in the way she believed them so wholeheartedly that she looked for the Kraken every time she dove below the shore.

Sometimes it felt like everything had changed so much, like those two skinny kids eating ice cream were almost unrecognizable. But, they were still Madi and Jordan. They were still best friends and they were still sitting on the edge of the pier eating ice cream and making a mess—well, Madi was making a mess.

Even back then, peppered between discussion of mermaids and krakens and arguments about the best flavors of ice cream, they would talk about their parents.

It was always a relief to have Jordan, to have someone who understood her. Sometimes they would share their worries, talk about how Jordan’s dad cried outside on the balcony when he thought nobody was listening or how Madi’s mom would sketch charcoal drawings of unfamiliar faces and tear them up before anyone could see them. They talked about the good things too, like how Clarke would play the guitar on rainy mornings or how Bellamy used to write musicals for the chickens on the farm. Through all the ups and downs of their lives, they always talked it out, they were always there for each other.

Madi didn’t have a lot of family—never had. She didn’t remember her biological parents, honestly, she didn’t care to. They hadn’t wanted her, they left her to care for herself. Clarke was the first person in the entire world that Madi could depend on, the person who taught her what it meant to have a family. She taught her that family was about love…about choosing people, taking care of them, listening to them, that family wasn’t about blood.

As far as Madi was concerned, Jordan was the closest thing she would ever have to a brother. He was her person, someone she knew she could always count on no matter what.

Once, on a muggy July afternoon, a few weeks after Independence Day, they laid on this pier, staring up at the clouds, arms pressed together despite the sticky heat and talked about what it would be like if they were really brother and sister. That was the year the four of them had spent the Fourth on the beach, eating popsicles, playing in the sand and watching the fireworks snuggled under a blanket. It was one of the clearest memories of Madi’s childhood, a day so purely joyful that it still sat on the forefront of her brain.

Their plan was a lot less developed back then, it involved forcing their parents to share ice cream whenever possible. It seemed like the only logical way to get their parents to fall in love.

With their backs pressed to the pier, they imagined the success of their ice cream plan, of having bedrooms joined by a tunnel, with a slide through the floor so they had easy access to the kitchen. In a world where they were brother and sister, they had cookies for breakfast every morning and they got to stay up as late as they wanted every night.

But…

As it turned out, you couldn’t force people to fall in love, even with ice cream. But anyone with eyes could see that Bellamy and Clarke didn’t need any help with that. They loved one another, it was obvious in all the small ways they took care of each other. They were two of the most caring and genuine people that Madi had ever known and she knew that all of this couldn’t be for nothing. People like their parents deserved happy endings, they deserved to have someone to come home to at the end of the night.

“How do you know we didn’t fuck everything up?” Jordan asked, leaning back against the old, splintery wood, a touch of chocolate ice cream dotting the corner of his mouth.

In this moment, all Madi could see was the little seven year old boy who took it upon himself to become her first friend.

Her best friend in the entire world.

“I just do, Jordy,” she shrugged, lying beside him, pressing their arms together like they used to when they were kids.

***

Clarke strummed absently on the strings of her guitar, allowing the soft notes of an Elvis song to float through the air, to mix with the sticky July heat. It had been a while since she played, probably since Madi was in middle school, but for the first time in a long time, she felt genuinely inspired.

 _“Wiseee meenn say, only fooools rush in…”_ she hummed quietly, closing her eyes, just feeling the vibration of the strings. _“But I, can’t help...falling in lovee, with you.”_

Madi leaned against the screen door to the porch, listening to her mom’s quiet singing. It was another trip back in time, to quiet evenings with steaming mugs of hot chocolate and an old rickety rocking chair. They could barely squeeze into it together, but Madi remembered curling up in her mom’s lap, tilting her chin just enough that she could watch her sing. It was mesmerizing. Madi would just stare up at her, thinking about how her mom was the most beautiful person in the entire world, how lucky she was to have her.

The thought of it made her emotional, made her suddenly feel weighed down by the passage of time. She wished she was still small, that life was as simple as a mug of hot chocolate and a kiss on the forehead from her mom. Back then, that had been her idea of a perfect day, of the best day she could possibly think of.

“Can I ask you something?” she asked finally, breaking the soft melody, causing her mom to jump just a little. 

“Sure baby, anything,” she smiled, patting the old wicker chair, setting the guitar on the floor. Madi had been acting weird lately—almost, twitchy. It was sending off alarm bells left and right, but Clarke was trying not to probe too far into it. Maybe this would finally provide some insight, give her some answers for her daughter’s strange behavior.

“Do you remember when we used to go down to the beach for Fourth of July?”

“I’m pretty sure we only did that once…”

“Well I was thinking we could do it again this year,” she said, sitting carefully on the edge of the couch, hoping her mom wouldn’t see how nervous she was.

This had to work.

It was their last shot, their last ditch effort to make this whole scheme work. If her mom fought her on this, the whole jig was up, they would have to come clean to Bellamy and it would all be for nothing. Their parents would probably never trust them again.

“Is this because of the pictures?” Clarke asked, tilting her chin toward the cabinet that held all their family photobooks. “The ones we were looking at last weekend?”

Madi let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, relieved at the explanation she had just been handed. It was true, the song, the photos, the idea that Jordan was leaving for college in a few years and she would leave soon after, it was all starting to weigh on her. This plan was for their parents, a way for them to finally admit how they felt about each other, but it was also a chance to relive one of her favorite days of her childhood, to hold onto the simplicity of being little for a bit longer.

“Yeah, it was such a good day and I don’t know…I feel like time has been moving so fast lately and—” she rambled, letting the truth roll out all at once, her emotion twining with her voice, making it sound much smaller and more pathetic than she intended. 

“I get it. Trust me,” Clarke assured, pulling Madi into her lap, holding her close, rubbing a hand slowly up and down her back. It was the truth. This month, spending time with Bellamy, reflecting on those early years in Maui, it made the passage of time stand out to her. It had been over a decade since she brought Madi home, but it barely felt like any time had gone by at all. Lately she couldn’t help but wonder whether she wasted some of it, whether she had let go of something worthwhile because she was afraid.

Just when she was starting to feel like she had things figured out—all those old feelings had come back and tilted her whole world all over again.

She already knew what Madi was asking.

Another chaperoned date, another afternoon with Bellamy, an exact recreation of the day she realized that she loved him.

It was too much, almost like tempting fate and yet—she couldn’t bring herself to say no.

***

“Do you want another round of cornrows? For old time’s sake?” Bellamy teased, bumping his shoulder against Clarke’s as they walked down the boardwalk. Madi and Jordan had raced ahead, dodging through the crowd to get in line for their shaved ice.

Despite his usual distain for wasting money on touristy garbage, Bellamy had conceded and slipped his son a ten dollar bill for the red white and blue dessert. It was a holiday, and the distraction would give him a few minutes alone with Clarke.

After the waterfall, jumping off the cliffs, he couldn’t get her out of his head. He had thought his crush on her would disappear with age, but he had never been as smitten as he was right now.

Yes, smitten.

Something he never thought he would feel as a fully grown adult, yet here he was, desperately trying to get the girl he liked to laugh.

Sure enough, she giggled as his teasing, swatting him lightly on the bicep at his quip. Her hand lingered for a second longer, her thumb tracing the skin of his bicep gently as she pulled away.

He wished he could just reach out and tuck her under his arm, hold her close, whisper things in her ear to make her laugh. Even after all this time, after years of convincing himself that she would never see him as more than a close friend, he couldn’t give up the small shred of hope that there was still a chance.

It was embarrassing really, the amount of time he had wasted imagining what their life would look like in a world where they were together.

He really needed to get a hold of himself, this was bordering on pathetic.

This would probably be the last time they hung out anyway, since he had pretty much caught Jordan in his lie. He had denied it, but it was the only reasonable explanation for the incredibly weird situation they were in. Once he had some space, a few free weekends to collect his thoughts, things would go back to normal. They would go back to their once a week teasing and shared Dole Whips on Saturday mornings.

It wasn’t ideal, but it was what they were. As much he wanted it to be, he and Clarke just weren’t in the cards. Their timing was wrong, they missed their window. It hurt like hell, but life just worked that way sometimes.

For now though, he was going to indulge in this, take whatever she was going to give him. The sun was high in the sky, the boardwalk packed with tourists and Clarke’s red dress made her bright blue eyes shine, it was a perfect day and he wasn’t going to waste it moping.

“I can’t believe this is still here,” Clarke murmured, stepping closer to Bellamy, the soft scent of vanilla and coconut suddenly overwhelming his senses. She was pointing to an old, tacky photobooth. The exterior had been peeled off and re-applied with the changing vendors, the sun wearing away the stickers till they were white whispers of colorful logos. With a soft smile, she tilted her chin slightly to meet his gaze.

They’d crammed in this old booth, so long ago now that it was almost unrecognizable now, when Madi and Jordan were small enough to be held in their laps. They took pictures with their faces smushed together, laughing till their sides ached, sticking out their tongues and fake picking their noses while the bulb flashed. He still had a copy of that strip, tucked in the corner of a bookshelf, it was faded and grainy, but their smiles were still as clear as ever.

“Should we go in? For old time’s sake?” Jordan asked, coming up behind them, lips tinged with blue dye from the shaved ice. His smile was boy-ish, the excitement radiating off him in waves. It tugged something deep in Bellamy’s heart, seeing his son like this. Lately it felt like he was trying to grow up too fast, running around like a crazy person, lying about things that he shouldn’t be doing. As much as this whole chaperone thing was weird and probably fake, it was nice to see him act like a kid again, smiling like the only thing that mattered was horrifying amounts of food coloring and running around on the beach. 

“There’s no way we’re all going to fit in there…we barely made it work when you were six,” Clarke chuckled, reaching out to wipe a drop of food coloring off Jordan’s face like it was nothing.

“That’s quitter attitude Clarke,” Jordan said back, raising his eyebrow slightly, challenging her to turn him down.

“Get in the photobooth Bellamy,” Clarke said simply, pulling back the curtain and gesturing for him to go inside.

“You’re kidding—”

“Do you want our children to think we’re quitters?” she asked, gesturing to the inside of the booth with so much conviction that he had no choice but to follow.

He resigned, sliding inside without protest. There really was not good argument to that, especially not when she was looking at him like that.

“Alright Jordan your turn, get on your dad’s lap,” she continued, gently guiding Jordan toward the entrance of the booth.

“Wait—no—this isn’t what I—” he stammered, eyes growing wide, his head swiveling back to Madi for help. Madi was just snickering, clearly enjoying the display as she ate the last of the shaved ice.

“It’s the only way we’re going to fit,” Bellamy called from inside, voice echoing off the metal walls harshly.

With a pained look, Jordan slid in, gently perching on Bellamy’s knees. Thankfully he was wiry, his weight barely a burden from the way he was sitting. But before they could even adjust, Clarke sat beside Bellamy, shoving in as closely as possible before gesturing for Madi to sit on her lap.

Suddenly he was hyper aware of how small the space was, how ridiculous this whole thing was. He started laughing, hard. Within seconds, they had all devolved into laughter, the movement making the space even more constricting.

“Smile everyone,” Madi yelled, turning on the camera before hugging everyone close.

They were still laughing when the flashes began, squished together. Right before the last flash, Bellamy chanced a look at Clarke, subtly, out of the corner of his eye. This was definitely in the top ten stupidest things he’s ever done, but it was so overwhelmingly heartwarming, it was almost emotional. He was so busy reflecting on how grateful he was, he barely registered that the series was over, until a cheesy song started to play as their strips printed out.

“These are one for the books,” Clarke said, still smiling as she looked at the photos, running her thumb along the edge of the flimsy paper as she studied each one.

They were painfully sweet, full of laughter and love, it was visible even in stagnant form. She absolutely loved them, wanted to make sure that they would stay in her memory forever. It had been years since she’d made a memory book, but she might need to start a new one just for this, just to make sure she never lost four of the sweetest photos she’d ever seen.

The last one in particular made something in her chest twist. She hadn’t noticed it at the time, but Bellamy was looking at her in the last shot, eyes soft, smile warm. He was looking at her like she was something important to him, like he couldn’t look anywhere other than at her smiling. She didn’t have many pictures of them together, usually she was the one behind the camera, documenting things, making memories.

This really was something special.

She was kind of sad that these chaperoned dates probably wouldn’t go on for much longer, even if they were kind of weird, this felt right. It always felt right, the four of them, playing tag, eating ice cream, watching fireworks. It never made sense, but this had felt like a family from the start. She’d lingered on it a lot when Madi and Jordan were younger, how much easier things would’ve been with a partner like Bellamy, to watch TV with him after they put the kids to sleep or go on family hikes on the weekends. It was never really that she was lonely, even though that was sometimes the case. In a lot of ways, she enjoyed being alone, liked having time with just her daughter but there was always something about Bellamy that left her wondering, wanting, fantasizing.

Over the years, she sometimes wondered whether she’d romanticized it, made it into something bigger than it was, but this confirmed that she hadn’t. Even with grown kids, kids who were potentially romantically involved, there was something overwhelmingly familial about the four of them. Her feelings for Bellamy were just as strong as they were the day she met him, despite the fact that she’d spent the better part of a decade trying to will them away.

***

Carefully, Clarke toed off her shoes, gathering them both in one hand so she could walk more comfortably in the soft sand. They’d trailed away from the normal tourist pasts, veering toward the private beach areas that were mainly frequented by locals. The sand was cleaner here, the air quieter without the hum of tourists. Even the buildings that lined the sand were smaller, less elaborate, more quaint than tropical.

This was the Maui she knew, the Maui she fell in love with when she’d first visited. It was peaceful, unassuming, the sky fading into a cotton candy pink and blue as the day drifted to a close. But as happy as she was to be walking on the beach, with her favorite people, watching the sunset, she had absolutely no idea where they were going. It didn’t seem like Bellamy had any idea either. Every once in a while they would move further down the beach and he would shoot her a confused glance, knitting his eyebrows together.

At least they were in this together.

Madi on the other hand, was acting incredibly strange. Her and Jordan were walking a few paces ahead, faces glued to their phones, barely acknowledging each other or the fact that they were walking to an unknown location.

Just as she was about to break the silence and ask, Madi and Jordan finally stopped walking. Slipping their phones into their pockets as they turned to face their parents with broad, almost unsettling smiles.

“Why are we at Murphy’s?” Bellamy asked, still frowning as he gestured to the old white beachside restaurant.

“We have a surprise for you,” Madi said, smile widening even more, beckoning for them to follow as she led them to one of the sanded picnic tables.

It was decorated, covered in a blue and white checkered tablecloth with a small vase of colorful flowers placed in the center. Above them, strands of soft glow string lights clicked on, brightening the dimming sky with yellow flickers.

“Is this for us?” Clarke asked, voice quiet, clearly shocked by the transformation of what was usually a beachside greasy spoon. She scrubbed her hand over her face, looking between the kids, the table and Bellamy in complete disbelief.

“Well, not all of us,” Madi began, looking expectantly at Jordan.

“That’s the other part of the surprise…we won’t be joining you,” he finished, gesturing for Bellamy and Clarke to take a seat at the table.

Before either of them could reply, Madi and Jordan vanished, leaving them in stunned silence, staring at each other across the elaborate picnic table. It was only then that Clarke noticed the small polaroid pictures scattered across the checkered tablecloth. Some were the narrow kind, unmistakably from Madi’s camera, while others were older, more faded, square, from Clarke’s own stash of pictures.

There were close to fifty photos, all from various stages of their lives. Baby faced pictures of them holding their toddlers, newer ones of them chatting over a plastic container of Dole whip, candids and posed photos, all mixed together.

Clarke felt tears welling in her eyes as she looked at each one, a few spilling to her cheeks when she finally glanced up at Bellamy. His eyes were shining with unshed tears too, a picture of Clarke giving Jordan a messy kiss on the cheek loosely gasped between his fingers.

“Why do I get the feeling we got played?” he asked, voice cracking slightly as he gently set down the photo.

“Because we most definitely did,” she said wetly, picking up the photo he was holding, smiling softly at the way 7 year old Jordan’s lips were tinged with blue dye, almost identical to the way they had been today.

Wordlessly, Bellamy handed her a standard photo, a real printed one, not a polaroid. It was from the Maui farmer’s market, an old promotional shot of the four of them standing between Clarke’s art stand and Bellamy’s pineapple truck. Clarke smiled as she took in her own tanned, young face, Madi’s chubby baby cheeks, Jordan’s pikachu doll clutched tightly in his hands and Bellamy’s carefully gelled and slicked back hair. She’d forgotten about this picture completely, it was a feat in itself that their kids managed to find it in the first place.

“Look at the back,” Bellamy said, voice raspy, cracked, like he was holding back a tidal wave of emotions.

She flipped it over carefully, in Madi’s neat, practiced cursive, there was a note:

_“Surprise!_

_We’re not actually dating. But we do think it’s time you finally let yourselves be happy. Hopefully you’re not too mad at us for lying._

_Here’s to a future of Clarke, Bellamy, Madi and Jordan, the family we were always meant to be._

_Love,_

_Your two favorite people_

_Ps._

_Jordan’s not gay, sorry Bellamy.”_

Before she really understood what she was reading, a tear rolled down her cheek, landing on the corner of the picture.

This was—unexpected.

“I uh—umm, I don’t know what I thought these dates were…but a set-up wasn’t it,” she said, suddenly nervous about being alone with Bellamy. So many unsaid things were sitting between them, it was a lot to handle. All these years, all this time, had he felt the same way? Did he want to be with her as badly as she wanted to be with him?

It was terrifying, and mindblowing and maybe a little frustrating. She couldn’t find the words to articulate how she felt about this, how monumentally huge this all was.

She wanted to admit everything, to pour her heart out, take him all the way back to the very first day she met and kiss him. But so much had happened, so much had changed. How do you unpack twelve years of unrequired love after figuring out it wasn’t unrequited at all?

“It’s pathetic that it took twelve years, a fifteen year old, a seventeen year old and a very thinly veiled set-up for me to admit that I’m in love with you, isn't it?" He asked carefully, putting everything out there, trying his best to keep from crying. He’d waited what felt like his entire life to say those words, to admit his feelings. He never thought he would actually be able to admit it to her. This was a gift. A very weird gift, but a gift all the same.

“I’m going to need you to say that again…” Clarke said, setting the photo back down on the table so she could face him fully. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears, mouth turned into a tentative smile. The way she was looking at him right now, he knew for sure that he meant it with every fiber of his being.

“I love you, I always have.”

With a choked sob, Clarke flung herself toward him, throwing her arms around his neck. He could feel the wet tracks of her tears against his skin, the way her hands were shaking just slightly. It took him a few seconds to process her movement, but once he did, his arms were around her too. He held her tightly, so close that he could feel their heartbeats fusing together.

Gently, she pulled back, just far enough that their eyes could meet. She cupped his jaw, rubbing her thumbs against her cheekbones.

“Those are the three best words to ever exist because I love you too. I love you so much,” she said, giving him one last long, fond look before she leaned forward.

And just like that, they were finally, _finally_ kissing.

Sometimes things were worth the wait.

***

Madi peeked around the corner, barely able to contain her squeal when she realized that their parents were kissing. It had worked, their dumb, half-baked plan had actually worked. They wouldn’t be getting a curly slide or cookies for breakfast, but their parents were happy and in love. This was it. They were going to be a family, the kind that gets to come home to each other and spend Christmas and Thanksgiving together and go out to dinner on school nights because she won her soccer game.

“Mission accomplished,” she whispered, holding out her fist for Jordan to bump.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime,” he answered, dodging her fist bump in favor of tackling her into the sand.

Their parents may have gotten their happy ending, but at least some things would never change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you, thank you for following along on this cute little ride. I had SO much fun writing this and mentally spending lots of time on the beach. This is so so so cheesy but it makes me so happy! 
> 
> I hope y'all liked it as well!! I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have any, I always appreciate your feedback and getting to know y'all. I feel lucky to have such amazing people to share my work with. Love forever! <3 
> 
> Catch y'all at the S7 premier next week (epppp) hopefully this little fluff will help make the time go just a bit faster.


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! This kind of just popped into my head and I couldn't resist.

* * *

“You’re late,” Jordan called over the car horns, mouth turned in a smirk as he leaned against his car door. He looked older than the last time Madi had seen him, less scraggly and more filled out, but he was still her Jordy.

“The pilot is coming to formally apologize to you in a few minutes,” she sighed, hauling her massive suitcase toward the Jeep. Her exasperation was tinged with a smile though, especially when she rounded the car and found a messy bunch of flowers tucked into the door handle.

“It’s good to see ya, kiddo,” Jordan smiled, wrapping her in a tight bear hug as she carefully removed the daisies.

“If I knew that moving away would make you nice, I would’ve gone to college a long time ago.”

“Don’t get too used to it,” he said, bopping her on the nose as he moved to climb back into the car.

Madi took a deep breath, allowing the balmy island air to fill her lungs, relishing the way the cool breeze brushed against her cheeks. She missed home—more than she ever expected to. Sure, college was fun, a new experience full of thrilling firsts, but nothing would ever compare to the island. She missed the waves, the clean air, mornings at the farmer’s market with her mom.

“I was only half kidding when I said you were late,” Jordan called through the window, gesturing for her to get in the car.

Madi laughed, breathing in the soft floral scent of the flowers and allowing herself one last look around the airport before she climbed in beside him.

“It’s good to be back,” she said, turning up the radio to their favorite oldies station as Jordan pulled onto the highway.

“Lucky for you, nothing ever changes around here…”

He was right, everything was exactly the way she left it. The crystal clear blue water, the quiet rustling of the palm trees, the obnoxious tourists who liked to tailgate other cars for fun.

“I know we’re late, but can we stop of ice cream?” she asked, digging through her duffel bag, knowing that Jordan would humor her even though they really couldn’t spare the stop.

“You’re insufferable…we can only stop if you change in the port-a-potty while I order.”

“Gross. But ice cream is worth it.”

***

Madi licked the last of her cone, stuffing the wrapper into the pocket of her dress. Jordan was right—of course, the ice cream stop had made them more than an acceptable amount of late. At least her dress looked a lot less wrinkled than it would’ve if she changed in the car.

“You stopped for ice cream?!” Clarke yelled from across the beach, stepping out of the white picnic table so she could approach her daughter.

Madi didn’t even bother trying to justify it, just flew into her mom’s arms, wrapping her in the tightest hug possible. This was the longest they’d ever been apart and the sight of her alone was enough to make Madi tear up.

“I missed you,” was all she said, burying her face in Clarke’s hair, breathing her in, letting the faded scent of sunscreen and grapefruit perfume bring her home.

“I missed you too baby, I’m glad you made it. We were worried about all those storms…but you’re here now and that’s what matters,” Clarke assured, rubbing a soothing hand down her daughter’s back, making slow circles, just as she always had.

Madi was taller than her now, only by a few inches, but it never failed to make her heart twinge. Her baby was all grown up, living on her own, a plane ride away. The ice cream stop, while annoying, was a nice reminder that under all the curled hair and eyeliner, the tiny kid who would do anything for a mint chocolate chip cone was still in here.

“You didn’t bring us any?” Bellamy asked, coming up behind Clarke to greet Madi as well.

As they hugged, Clarke couldn’t help but feel a little emotional about the whole thing. Bellamy loved her daughter like his own, had even before they were together, but now, it was more obvious than ever. They really were a family, officially the kind the came home to each other. This week was about making it official, but it wasn’t really necessary.

This moment right here was all the confirmation she had ever needed.

“I love you guys, and this is really sweet, but there’s like twenty people watching us right now…so maybe we pick this up after the party?” Jordan said gently, wrapping an arm around Clarke’s shoulders as he spoke, lowering his voice so only they could hear.

Sure enough, all their guests were turned in chairs, watching their family reunion with gentle smiles. They’d all known each other for over fifteen years, they knew what it took for them to get to this point, how much they meant to each other.

“Welcome to the official Griffin-Blake rehearsal dinner!” Madi yelled, pumping her fist in the air, urging all their friends to cheer with her. “Let’s get these two married!”

***

Clarke snuggled into Bellamy’s side, allowing herself to relax a little. Wedding planning was more exhausting than she expected, that combined with Madi’s delayed flights and the worry her daughter would miss the wedding entirely was enough to leave her almost completely drained.

They were nearing the end of the night and as much as she was grateful for all the love, she was ready to go home, back to the farm and spend the night with her family.

“Attention everybody…Jordan and I would like to say a few words to end the night,” Madi announced, clinking a fork against a beer that she was technically too young to be holding.

“Four score and four years ago when the world was young, Madi and I made a plan. A plan to set our parents up. Turns out, we aren’t very good at lying…but everything worked out the way it was supposed to in the end. We could both go on and on about how amazing our parents are, but frankly, you all already know that. You all were there when they both were young, how they took care of me and Madi, watched each other from afar. They’ve both sacrificed a lot in their lives and we are so incredibly lucky to call you _both_ our parents. Thank you for giving us a family, for loving us even when we didn’t deserve it and for putting our happiness before your own,” Jordan began, standing on the bench of the picnic table to amplify his voice.

“There aren’t really words to describe how much we love you and how happy we are they you’re going to be officially married this week. So instead, we thought we would sing to you. It only feels fitting,” Madi added, pulling a keyboard from under the table.

“Incredible really, how good they are at scheming,” Bellamy whispered, chucking to himself as Jordan and Madi set up the keyboard, arranging themselves on a picnic table in a way that was almost artful.

“They always were. Do you remember how they used to pretend to be asleep in the booths of the diner so they could play for a little longer?” Clarke smiled, wrapping Bellamy’s hand in her own.

“I was secretly grateful for that, it gave me more time with you…” he said, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

“I love you,” Clarke said softly, trying to convey how strongly she meant it through their shared gaze.

Before Bellamy could respond, Madi cleared her throat, and Jordan softly began to play. It was a gentle piano melody, one that she couldn’t place at first.

That was until, Madi began to sing.

“Wiseee men say, only fools rush in,” she sang, voice soft, clear and reedy, so painfully reminiscent of how it sounded when she was a baby, singing along to Clarke’s guitar. “But I cann’t help, falling in loveee, with you.”

This song.

Her dad used to sing it to her and her mom when she was a kid and at the time it felt like such an abstract thing, to love someone so much that you were willing to give them your life. She’d sit on the floor while he played the guitar, not really understanding, but knowing that there was a lot of power behind the words.

But then, she’d found Madi and she’d understood. Love like that wasn’t just romantic.

Hearing the song after she became a mom made the entire piece click into place. The kind of love she felt wasn’t romantic, but it was consuming and beautiful, the kind that made your entire heart feel full. After that, she was at peace with the fact that she might never have a romantic context to the song, not the way her dad had, but she finally understood its magnitude.

Now though, she understood it in both contexts, in her love for her daughter—but also in the love she felt for Bellamy.

He was everything she ever wanted in a husband, the kind of thing she never thought could exist in a living breathing person. Of course, he had his flaws, but that was part of what made him beautiful. Even his flaws had a piece of something so essentially human that she loved them too. She loved this man for all that he was and all that they would ever be together.

This was her future, Madi and Bellamy and Jordan.

Her and Bellamy shared a consuming, beautiful, painfully romantic love, but they also shared a sacrificing, soft, nostalgic family love.

It was a gift.

A gift born from friendship, from struggle, sacrifice, and a ridiculous plan dreamed up by two teenagers that somehow managed to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your kind support and love, this story was one of my favorites to write and this kind of just came to me. I'm a sucker for epilogues so I hope enjoy this little endcap. 
> 
> Much love.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all enjoy! This will likely just be short and cute, it's meant to just be fluffy and sweet. I'd love to hear what you all think, especially about the POV...I kind of wanted to give a glimpse into what everyone was thinking. I grew up on the beach (not Hawaii sadly) so being home for this quarantine put me in a mood to write about sweet summer days. 
> 
> Much love :) Stay safe and well out there, we're living in wild times. If you're ever feeling alone, just know I am always happy to talk, I'd like to think we're all friends here! There is always someone who cares. 
> 
> If you want to be pals, like moodboard or just wanna hear my little life drabbles you can find me on Tumblr @Nakey-cats-take-bathsss


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